Start assisting in immigration issues—and urge Congress to make better laws

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 I am discouraged by Democrats’ disregard for the oath they took when they were elected to serve in Congress. That oath states in part that “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Article 1 of the Constitution established how the government would be run. It says that Congress creates the laws, the executive branch enforces the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws. Some of those laws specify how aliens can legally enter the country.

Immigration is a complex issue because one political party thinks we should have open borders without any limitations on who can or cannot enter, and the other thinks that anyone who enters should be properly vetted and ready to contribute to society rather than sponge from it. In addition, Democrats believe that anyone who enters the country illegally should be granted immunity from prosecution.

To contribute, an alien should be ready to enter either the “blue collar” or technical/engineering workforce. 

For example, a large portion of America is composed of labor-intensive agricultural operations. These include field, packing house, cattle, chicken/turkey raising, and meat packing operations. Some are seasonal and others are year-around operations.

Clearly, based on the use of large numbers of illegal aliens to support agricultural labor needs, something needs to change. Trying to use laws enacted decades ago to deal with this problem isn’t working; in years past politicians tried using unemployed citizens for these jobs, but that didn’t work well because they caused too much damage to the crops.

Legislators could start with guest worker programs that are structured to support the ebb and flow agricultural labor needs. The needs of this industry vary with the seasons or abnormal impacts of weather/fire events; thus, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. The Department of Agriculture with its network of farm/ranch-related special interest groups might be helpful to provide meaningful seasonal staffing needs as Congress crafted new immigration rules tailored to this labor need.

Once vetted for the guest worker program, these workers could enter the “fast lane” when they return next season; new workers would still require proper vetting prior to entry. Those on the job for a couple of seasons or those employed in year-round operations could be assisted to become naturalized citizens with educational programs provided by the employer.

I am guessing that a properly crafted change to the guest worker program would gain bipartisan support.

Another need is for skilled craft workers in construction and manufacturing. I am a firm believer that specialized training programs could prepare American citizens for this skill set, but there is also room for some guest workers.

As far as the technical/engineering workforce, the U.S. education system doesn’t properly prepare students to enter this spectrum of the work world. It is widely known that K-12 schools are graduating large numbers of students who can’t read or do simple math at grade level. And it’s also known that community college through post graduate universities offer numerous programs that have no value in the workplace.

The absence of a meaningful education for American citizens contributes to the need for guest workers in both the skilled craft and technical/engineering workforce. Since this problem can’t be fixed by congressional action, the only solution seems to be another change in the education syllabus to fill industry demands.

In short, the immigration laws need to be updated, but simply resisting enforcement of existing law with endless conversations, waving signs, yelling and screaming, harassing enforcement officers, burning public property and stopping traffic isn’t helpful and produces no meaningful results. 

Unfortunately, neither political party seems to have the will to address this issue. It’s past time to stop resisting and start assisting. It is Congress that can propose legislation to change those laws.

Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jul 10-20, 2025.